President Donald Trump seems to have a habit of giving in to people who stand up to him, according to a new report.
The Daily Beast spoke with Michael Cody, the son of a late mob-linked union boss in New York named John Cody, about what Trump was like when he was an up-and-comer in the New York real estate world. John Cody crossed paths with Trump on more than a few projects, his son told the outlet, and some of the lessons he learned then are being revealed now that he's president.
“I think the dealings with wise guys, you know, made him a wannabe,” Michael Cody told The Daily Beast. “There’s a lot of wannabes out there, and Trump was one... He’s a wannabe Mafia don.”
Cody pointed to Trump's meeting with foreign leaders who stand up to him. For example, Trump earned the moniker TACO Trump after backing out of so many tariff threats. He also performed an about-face after meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week to discuss a ceasefire in the war in Ukraine.
“I mean, how much more powerful could a person be?” Cody told the outlet. “Why do you always cave in?”
Part of the reason is that Trump never learned how to stand up to mobsters when he was younger, Cody argued. He described younger Trump to the outlet as “a guy who would talk tough, but as soon as you confronted him, he would cry like a little girl. He was all talk, no action.”
“My father walked all over him,” Cody said. “Any time Trump didn’t do what he was told, my father would shut down his job for the day. No deliveries; 400 guys sitting around.”